This is a really weird game to review. On one hand, yes, the formula is there. It's obvious when you play it that Ion Fury is trying its best to emulate the likes of Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior (Blood not so much imo). Super fast paced gameplay, levels bursting with verticality and secrets, and a quippy protagonist.
However, there are some issues that prevent Ion Fury from reaching the heights of the legendary Build trinity. First of all, and the most damning thing, is the writing and dialogue. I don't normally say things like this in reviews, as I generally respect most involved in game development, but whoever wrote the narrative and dialogue needs to be either fired or switched to another section of the team. I moderate a Dragon Ball roleplaying forum, and people who can barely type a coherent sentence could write more compelling and honest dialogue than whoever the fuck they got to write this shit.
From the first level to the last, Shelly says the most cringeworthy and (even worse) unimaginative bullshit you could possibly think of. Movie references that desperately scream "OMG I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES SOMETHING FEEL 90'S BUT I'LL TRY ANYWAY," comments on shit that basically amount to the most STRAIGHTFORWARD observation you could possibly make but in a voice that implies there's a joke somewhere. There is no joke. It's not funny, it's not witty, it's not interesting.
What made the Build trinity's dialogue good is how extreme it was. It didn't play it safe. Duke is such an insanely strong parody of 90's action heroes that he actually ends up being a GOOD action hero in his own right due to his many, many memorable quotables that are repeated to this day, in addition to unbelievably unique voice acting. Caleb is just so dastardly, vicious, and witty that you can't help but to love him. And Lo Wang... Alright, he's uh... Well, in an attempt to preserve my reputation I'm just gonna say at least he's memorable and extreme. Despite her solid voice acting, Shelly is not.
Now, regarding the gameplay. It does a lot of things right. The level design is some of the best in any Build game ever, I'd argue that much of this game's level design surpasses the quality of the trinity. The environments are insanely detailed and there's so much to see, it's really the only Build game i'd call "beautiful."
The guns are rock solid. I know some complain about the lack of weapon variety, but I seldom felt that way while playing. All of the weapons do a good job at filling a niche (with the exception of the crossbow... they probably should have fixed the aiming on that but i guess it does work in a pinch) and it's rare that you don't have the right tool for the job. The feedback on killing enemies is generally quite nice too, especially with explosions.
The enemies you face range from "solid" to "why the fuck did they put this in the game" tier. The "solid" enemies are the regular goons dressed in robes and the shotgun guys. I say solid because while they get the job done, they aren't the most stylistically interesting and they have no real dialogue other than basic tactical speak... Which is a far cry from the pig cops of Duke Nukem and the screaming cultists of Blood.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum... The fucking spider robots. Why God Why. I never had fun a single time dealing with these annoying motherfuckers. ESPECIALLY when the game decides to just spam them without any other enemies. At least there's an argument to be made that they er... make combat more tricky against a group? I don't know, I'm being too generous. Remove these fuckers and the game improves two fold.
Anyway, I think the primary issues with this game lay in the obvious lack of writing and style chops. The only thing I can really say has a ton of style in this is like... The music and environments. Shelly is terrible and the enemies are boring. Unfortunately, that's kinda like... the primary focus of the game, it goes without saying. The reason I'm still giving this a pretty good score is because fundamentally it's good, I found myself wanting to come back, and the level design is just too good to ignore.
However, there are some issues that prevent Ion Fury from reaching the heights of the legendary Build trinity. First of all, and the most damning thing, is the writing and dialogue. I don't normally say things like this in reviews, as I generally respect most involved in game development, but whoever wrote the narrative and dialogue needs to be either fired or switched to another section of the team. I moderate a Dragon Ball roleplaying forum, and people who can barely type a coherent sentence could write more compelling and honest dialogue than whoever the fuck they got to write this shit.
From the first level to the last, Shelly says the most cringeworthy and (even worse) unimaginative bullshit you could possibly think of. Movie references that desperately scream "OMG I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES SOMETHING FEEL 90'S BUT I'LL TRY ANYWAY," comments on shit that basically amount to the most STRAIGHTFORWARD observation you could possibly make but in a voice that implies there's a joke somewhere. There is no joke. It's not funny, it's not witty, it's not interesting.
What made the Build trinity's dialogue good is how extreme it was. It didn't play it safe. Duke is such an insanely strong parody of 90's action heroes that he actually ends up being a GOOD action hero in his own right due to his many, many memorable quotables that are repeated to this day, in addition to unbelievably unique voice acting. Caleb is just so dastardly, vicious, and witty that you can't help but to love him. And Lo Wang... Alright, he's uh... Well, in an attempt to preserve my reputation I'm just gonna say at least he's memorable and extreme. Despite her solid voice acting, Shelly is not.
Now, regarding the gameplay. It does a lot of things right. The level design is some of the best in any Build game ever, I'd argue that much of this game's level design surpasses the quality of the trinity. The environments are insanely detailed and there's so much to see, it's really the only Build game i'd call "beautiful."
The guns are rock solid. I know some complain about the lack of weapon variety, but I seldom felt that way while playing. All of the weapons do a good job at filling a niche (with the exception of the crossbow... they probably should have fixed the aiming on that but i guess it does work in a pinch) and it's rare that you don't have the right tool for the job. The feedback on killing enemies is generally quite nice too, especially with explosions.
The enemies you face range from "solid" to "why the fuck did they put this in the game" tier. The "solid" enemies are the regular goons dressed in robes and the shotgun guys. I say solid because while they get the job done, they aren't the most stylistically interesting and they have no real dialogue other than basic tactical speak... Which is a far cry from the pig cops of Duke Nukem and the screaming cultists of Blood.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum... The fucking spider robots. Why God Why. I never had fun a single time dealing with these annoying motherfuckers. ESPECIALLY when the game decides to just spam them without any other enemies. At least there's an argument to be made that they er... make combat more tricky against a group? I don't know, I'm being too generous. Remove these fuckers and the game improves two fold.
Anyway, I think the primary issues with this game lay in the obvious lack of writing and style chops. The only thing I can really say has a ton of style in this is like... The music and environments. Shelly is terrible and the enemies are boring. Unfortunately, that's kinda like... the primary focus of the game, it goes without saying. The reason I'm still giving this a pretty good score is because fundamentally it's good, I found myself wanting to come back, and the level design is just too good to ignore.